ClickWrite Website Platform

Microsites: Effective Brand Awareness and Messaging Tools

Do microsites really work as effective brand awareness and messaging tools? According to new research from Dynamic Logic they do. An average microsite caused a greater increase in overall brand metrics than display advertising, according to a survey of microsite traffic.

"As shown in the chart, we see that on average, microsites impact 7.8% of site visitors with respect to conveying key brand messages. In other words, after visiting a microsite, 7.8% of people become aware of a campaign's message who otherwise would not have been." (Dynamic Logic)

Some of the success of microsites seems obvious. People (customers, clients, etc.) who visit the site are making a decision to learn more about a brand and already have interest. Still, the substantial increase in purchase intent, brand favorability, ad awareness and aided brand awareness shows that a microsite experience offers a company or brand an unusual level of engagement with specific targeted users.

According to Dynamic Logic’s research certain characteristics of microsites succeeded in moving the brand metrics needles more dramatically than others. For example Aided brand awareness was enhanced when the site made very clear the brand’s benefits and particular relevance to the visitor. A good user experience, where the site is easy to navigate and there are simple clear taglines communicating brand benefits, will help the user associate the messaging with the client brand. Brands that entertained or gave useful information to visitors seemed to be the most well received while those who only pushed conversions and more direct sell methods seemed to fall short. Quality content on a site positively impacts purchase intent. This suggests that visitors like to reciprocate when they feel a brand has given them some kind of value.

Traditional advertising, and its share of marketing budgets, is getting smaller. As marketers move away from traditional advertising they are trying to find different ways to reach consumers through broader “marketing services”. These services are aimed at bringing a client closer to the consumer. Digital projects like branded “microsites” have become a part of most b2b marketers’ portfolio of offerings, and these microsites have become increasingly popular among consumer marketers as well.

Unlike banner ads and other digital marketing techniques, which have years of research and post-campaign analysis to prove value as a branding tool, there has been little research on the impact microsites have on visitors relative to other parts of a digital marketing strategy. While they are more expensive to build and maintain than a simple digital campaign, it is clear that they strongly affect the people that publishers can drive to such microsites. That is where ClickWrite comes in. Clickwrite can provide a solution to building expensive microsites and the problem of updating those sites with current content. The benefits of using microsites are obvious and engaging with your consumer, or clients, is more important today than it has ever been. Are you ready to build your brand, increase your awareness, and engage more effectively with customers and clients? It is time to start using microsites.

Sure your management team might have MBAs from Harvard or have been successful at a Fortune 100 company, but studies still show that smaller groups of highly intelligent people are consistently outperformed by crowds.

“On the Internet no one knows you are a dog,” which is what makes crowdsourcing possible. Nobody knows whether you are a professional photographer or award winning screenwriter. The only qualification is the work itself.

So you have tried everything; Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIN, and yelling at people from your 3rd floor office, but the leads generated and amount of conversions haven’t been what you expected. You ask yourself, "What am I doing wrong?"

Microsites can be as complex or simple as you want and can deliver a targeted message no matter how many pieces of additional information is on the page or pages. The size of the microsite and the content used will depend on what your goal is and who you want to target.

Launching The Site and Creating Its Content

In the first two parts of Successful Franchises Use Microsites we looked at how franchisors, and franchisees, are having a difficult time determining what marketing strategy works best for them, how a microsite can combine different pieces of media within that strategy, and how a franchisor can benefit from creating a microsite specifically for franchise sales. This week we will take a look at the microsite and how content marketing strategy plays a vital role in its success.

Microsites Dedicated to Franchise Sales

Last week we took a look at the crowded media landscape and how franchisors are having a difficult time determining which options are best for them and their franchisees. This week we will look at whether a microsite dedicated to franchise sales is a good move for franchisors. According to the International Franchise Association (IFA) “creating a “microsite” dedicated to franchise sales is a wise move for franchisors.”

The substantial increase in purchase intent, brand favorability, ad awareness and aided brand awareness shows that a microsite experience offers a company or brand an unusual level of engagement with specific targeted users.

We've been offering the ClickWrite Microsite Platform for a good many months now and have seen many light bulbs go off for people once it's explained. Seems the need for such a product is vast and as unique as great marketing minds can make of it.

Microsite networks have terrific potential in obtaining high ranking local search results. A recent change to Google's Place Search provides an even better way to highlight this potential and produce amazing results.

Alex Huff, LoudClick Founder and CEO, has been interviewed on 2 podcasts providing a great overview of what the ClickWrite Microsite Platform is, the ideas that led to its creation and who would benefit from it most Read More